Busy Busy Busy

The first week of work went well as did the first official weekend after starting work. Found another kindred spirit and we visited each others homes to ogle each others books. What fun! And tried an Indian place (not bad but not spicy enough). But wouldn't you know it as soon as I relaxed that evil thing called the "Migraine" struck and incapacitated me for three days. *ugh* I really hate them and still think decapitation would work but its just too permanent a solution to really be feasible. I suppose it was just too much change all at the same time.

Week two was topped off by a lovely surprise from my newest book buddy with a copy of Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs ((((bookbuddy)))). Which I promptly devoured as soon as the weekend started (and of course I read it all in one sitting). Then on Sunday I went and found the nearest Trader Joe's (about one hour and 15 minutes away). A bit far for everyday stuff but close enough that I can stock up on Nuts about Antioxidants trail mix monthly. *happy dance* So its off to week three.

The much anticipated (by me) Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre is out tomorrow. Now the big question is do I go out and buy it tomorrow and stare at it for the rest of the week as it sits next to the reading chair whispering my name (which also sounds a lot like that little voice telling me that ice cream doesn't have calories) or do I wait until Friday to swing by the bookstore? Oh the agony!

And to think I will have to do this next week as well since Demon Forged by Meljean Brook is out the 6th (another Tuesday). *sigh* (And not to mention Deep Kiss of Winter being out the following week then Queen of Song and Souls two weeks after that... nope not mentioning those books and none of those gotta haves in November either... nope no mention of Blaze of Memory here at all... none!)

Much will power will be involved these two weeks since I know once I open the little devils I'll have to read them all the way through. Perhaps is best that I not buy them until the weekend...

but what if they sell out!?

Well it's a college town and there are many bookstores...

and many more readers...

ARGH!!!

Must buy, then hide until the appropriate time...
must not open books until after work on Friday...
*squints eyes and crosses fingers*

And don't forget to come by on the 30th for the Shaymless Aymless Romance Book Club discussion. We will be discussing Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught!

Sorry

Hello All! Sorry I that I have been invisible for the last couple of weeks. First it was migraine hell then preparing for new contract starting this week. Talk about headaches!

Yup, that evil that seems to creep up on me unawares has struck again. And this time I was lacking my meds. *sigh* Then had to spend much $$ with doctor for nasty, butt-hurting shots then more appointments to transfer prescriptions and get them re-filled so that this does happen again! Some days I really hate the whole medical community!

In Summary: Shots hurt! Medicines are much $$ but they are necessary for poorer me.

Ahh... that lovely thing that we all can't seem to keep up with our book habits without... WORK! Lately I have been hunting for work (again) and now have secured another contract! Yeah and Boo! So I have been up to my neck in negotiations on the contract (hours and rate) then filling out the endless stacks of paperwork to get settled with a start date and time. Now have a tentative start date (Wednesday or they tell me, it was supposed to be Monday so we will have to wait and see).

In Summary: Work is good because it make $ flow in the + category. Work is bad because it causes the TBR to grow since book input doesn't get slower but the output gets slower since no time for reading.

And on top of all that... DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME SUCKS! I really hate having to reset all my clocks twice a year! It's not like we are a farming society anymore so this whole DST thing totally messes with everything. And now my phone (thus lifeline) has wrong time and I can't figure out how to get the correct time set! *pout*

WTF... now I find out it's not until next week... Freakin' calendar has it wrong. All the online stuff (thanks Alice) says next week. Guess I can live with all the clocks being off by an hour for a week 'cause I'm NOT doing this again next week (not counting resetting them to the right time for this week)

On to more positive things...

Coming to this blog soon...

Drum roll please...


ARC review of Hope's Folly by the wonderful Linnea Sinclair!

In the meantime... ENJOY... Supernatural certainly has nothing on Rocky.

Pimpage and Reviews

Greetings all quasi-sane personages. Once again I have survived the misery called the menstrual migraine (ugh). At least I am lucky enough to still be able to read while curled up in my little ball of misery. But enough about me.

The nice folks over at the Book Binge are wonderful summertime contest, the giveaway is a beautiful hand bag, some books and other treats. All entries into the contest must be e-mailed by June 30th. See the folks at the Book Binge for details.

In addition the wonderful folks at the Book Smugglers are having a long weekend with Loretta Chase. They will be interviewing Loretta Chase tomorrow and giving away three copies of Ms. Chase's latest release Your Scandalous Ways.

Now on with the reviews:

Title: The Song

Author: Jean Johnson

Published: February 2008

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Stand Alone/Series: Book 4 of The Sons of Destiny

From the Author Site: Evanor, fourth-born of the Sons of Destiny, lost his voice—and with it, his powers—in the violent battle that freed his family from their greatest enemy. Thankfully, with the safe return of his twin, Evanor now knows precisely who can bring his songs back to life.

She is the enchanting widow Mariel, a Healer brought to Nightfall to help the brothers in their hour of need. For Mariel and her young son, that means leaving their beloved homeland for the unfamiliar island of Nightfall and its still-forbidden shores…and with it, risking the passion she stirs in her intriguing patient’s heart.

But a new danger looms when the Council of Katan learn there might be women on the Isle…

Review: Book 4 and still enjoying the series.

Evanor, who is the Lord Chamberlain of Nightfall, lost his voice and his magic since he is a Song Mage. Without his voice to direct his magic, he is without magical power. Since Katan still considers them exiles, no healer of sufficient power is willing to come to Nightfall Isle to restore his voice.

Enter widowed Mariel, a healer of sufficient power from Natallia and best friend to Serina, the wife of Evanor's twin Dominor, and her son Mikor. She must reacquaint herself with her skills in order to regenerate Evanor's vocal cords, with the help of the citizen-chickens. The addition of the nine year old child to the island required some adjustment for the others.

Evanor and Mariel are immediately drawn towards each other, but the courtship is awkward since Evanor can barely speak. And both tend to be reserved with very little wild swings of passion. The love story is much quieter in this book than in the previous three.

The continuing subplot takes a bigger role in this installment. The Council and King of Katan are beginning to question the unusual purchases being made by the brothers, items that seem to imply that there might be women on the island, and also the news that the brothers are charging for resources that were once free has enraged some on the Council. Again the bit of humor made the book fun to read especially the continuing joke of the "citizen-chickens" and one can't help but giggle at the title of "Councilor of Conflict Resolution".

Keeper?: Yes

Recommendation: Yes

Rating: 3.5 of 5


Title: The Cat

Author: Jean Johnson

Published: June 2008

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Stand Alone/Series: Book 5 of The Sons of Destiny

From the Author Site: Amara of the Shifterai has good reason to be wary of mages, when mages were responsible for chasing her and her sister out of their homeland. Being on the run for so long hasn’t put her in a trusting mood, yet there is something about Trevan of Nightfall—mage or not—that Amara finds difficult to resist. But can he be trusted with her most fiercely guarded secret?

Courting such a pretty yet prickly outlander won’t be easy, but Trevan is determined to try. She may be fierce, proud, and from a different culture, but he is the Cat, and none but the most fascinating and challenging of women could satisfy him. Of course, it would help if she stood still long enough for him to court her properly…

Review: I have to say that this has been my least favorite in the series so far.

Trevan, the romeo of the brothers, is frustrated with the lack of female companionship and longs for a woman to call his own, whether she be an illusion or real. When he finds signs of a new woman on the island, he immediately sets out the catch her as his destined mate.

Amara, a power natural shifter of the Shifterai, is wary of mages due to the unusual power her twin has inside her. She was a princess and the next Queen to be of the Shifterai but due to the fates she was forced to leave her people to protect them and her twin. She is "prideful, prickly and paranoid" and a general pain in the ass for the first half of the book. She has a bit of the superiority complex, is constantly butting head with Kelly, who is now Queen of Nightfall, and is completely distrusting even though she made everyone swear by truth stone that they had no interest in acquiring any additional power than what they already had.

There was some humor in the story but not nearly as much as the previous books. The love story is weak, since Amara spends most of her time running away and avoiding the issue while Trevan tracks her down because he believes that she is his destined mate. There was no real chemistry between them, no real passion until the nearly end of the book. The subplot continues smoothly. What I found most interesting is the budding relationship between Rydan, the night-loving, antisocial brother, and Amara's twin sister, Arora. Their story will be told in The Storm.

Keeper?: Yes

Recommendation: Yes

Rating: 3 of 5

Interviewing

I hate interviewing. Having the dress-up, smiling nicely and being so PC. Yuck! But the sad thing is that without interviewing there is no jobbing acquiring. And with no job acquiring there is no book/food money. It's really too bad they are all related! At least there is no interviewing on the weekends. And thanks to a turn of luck I have gotten my greedy little hands on Lover Enshrined by J. R. Ward, so things look good for the weekend.

Having finally crawled out of the migraine medication haze, which is almost as fun as migraines, and into the living nearly sane world only to discover that food and medication are running low. So a trip to the grocery store and pharmacy (where they sadly know my name and face and have my medication waiting for me) is due. In addition, my friends now have me on a nearly permanent "maybe" list for outings and the TBR pile is four books shorter (thank goodness I can still read while in migraine mood, not that I can retain much but without which I would be truly insane, not that I had any sanity to loose in the first place). Having replenished my non-perishable food stores and have finally figured out what sunlight is, I cleaned house, reacquainted myself with my cat and let my friends know that I am still among the living.

On the bright side, I had an interview today and it sounds like I have managed to jump this hurdle and am now in position to take the next in the odious process of job hunting. Where is my millionaire hero now? Well life goes on and real heroes are running scares. A trip to the HLO island is definitely a must! Hello weekend and Phury.

Have a nice weekend all. Cheers and alcoholic drinks of your choice all around.

Lost Days

The evil of migraines have struck again. I have been the victim of debilitating migraines, since I was 17. Currently there is no cure for them, just preventative medications. The mediation gives you some relief. Life goes on while you curl and deny you existence. On the plus side, I managed to read some of the Lora Leigh's Breed series (in low light).

I found them to be enjoyable but not riveting. It starts with a short story in Hot Spell (The Breed Next Door), then Megan's Mark, Harmony's Way, Tanner's Scheme, and Dawn's Awakening. Overall I found them to be enjoyable but not something I would highly recommend to friends. they were fluff reading, something to kill time.

The Breed Next Door was delightful. Full of romance and a great storyline. It tells the tale of unlikely neighbor getting together. For a short story it was stellar.

Megan's Mark was a wonder story that managed to incorporate story line along with the heated romance. It was also believable. No hello I'm so-so let's hope into bed. Lots of tension and fun though out the story. I would recommend this to others.

Harmony's Way was a typical story of man meets woman and they get together. A one night stand that turns into something else. The story line was a bit week. but the love scenes were hot.

Tanner's Scheme again the story was trite. The heroine was kidnapped and taken to a secret location, where she and the hero go it on with very little build up. It happed quite quickly and was a bit unbelievable .

Dawn's Awakening tells of a chance missed. If the "mating hormone" is so powerful, why didn't the hero spend time with the heroine at the beginning. Instead they wait 10 years! He is in the process of attempting to propose to another woman when the heroine shows up to throw a wrench into the mix. Again quite unbelievable.

Overall the stories were enjoyable but I was left with wanting more. Overall rating 3.5 out of 5.

A Beginning

Well here goes another attempt to writing a blog. It's like the diary you start every year but then forget it is there and the next thing you know it is June and you've made one entry so you toss it in a drawer/bookshelf with all the others.

So what's up with me. Well currently unemployed and looking for a new opportunity. I think the cosmos is telling me to start a new career. What that new career should be is still a mystery to me. The migraines are still there. Some days are better than others but usually it all depends on the stress and amount of sleep. The more I stress about not working and not being able to find work, the less sleep I get which than all equals more migraines. Not having a routine is also increasing the frequency of the migraines, but it is hard to set up a routine when there is no place you have to be on any given day.

I have been spending my inadvertent vacation catching up on my reading. It started with the To Be Read (TBR) pile that all avid readers probably have next to their beds. Then came the reading of blogs, since I was already on-line looking for work I started searching for authors I enjoy and found Nalini Singh's blog. Thanks to all those other blogger and commentators, my TBR pile has grown so much that I had to buy a new book case just for them. I have also meet some very nice people. People who are as crazy about books as I am. Glad to know I'm not the only one crazy about romance novels.